Apex · Wake County · Property taxes
Your new value is coming. Here's what actually moves your bill.
Wake County is revaluing every property as of January 1, 2027. A bigger number on your notice doesn't automatically mean a bigger bill. What matters is how your value moves compared with everyone else's, and the rate Council sets afterward.
Try it
Above or below average?
After a revaluation, towns must publish a revenue-neutral rate: the rate that would bring in about the same money as before. It's based on the average change. Move the sliders to see what that means for one home.
The real 2027 average isn't known yet. In 2024, Apex's total assessed value rose 56%.
Simplified illustration: the official revenue-neutral rate also includes a growth adjustment (6.55% in 2024, when it came to 30.2¢). Wake County sets its own rate separately. Council can adopt a rate above or below revenue-neutral.
The rate
Apex's tax rate, 2016 to today
Cents per $100 of assessed value, by tax year. Tap a point for what happened.
Since the 2024 revaluation, the rate is up 1.6¢ for the voter-approved 2021 bond and 1.75¢ this year.
The record
How the last two rates were set
Mayor Pro Tem Terry Mahaffey's approach, in his words: "the lowest responsible increase."
- FY26
Spring 2025
Flat, except the voter-approved bond
The manager's draft added 0.9¢ for operations on top of 1.6¢ for the 2021 Streets & Sidewalks bond voters approved. Through the Finance Committee he and Council Member Ed Gray served on, Mahaffey asked for cut scenarios, then moved to cut the full 0.9¢. The rate stayed flat apart from the bond.
Mahaffey newsletter, May 2025Read it ↗ - Apr
April 16, 2026
The manager recommends 39.14¢
The recommended FY27 budget raised the rate from 35.6¢ to 39.14¢, an increase of about 3.5¢, for public safety, the Community Investment Fund, fleet replacement and other items.
Approved minutes, Apr. 16, 2026 (slide 20)Minutes (PDF, p. 365) ↗ - May
May 7, 2026
A written alternative
Mahaffey published an alternative budget built on vacancy savings, fund balance, software savings and revenue changes, targeting 1.75¢.
"residents deserve to see a serious alternative before we adopt the full 3.5-cent increase."Terry Mahaffey, "My Alternative Budget Proposal for Apex," May 7, 2026
Mahaffey newsletter, May 7, 2026Read it ↗ - 5–0
May 21, 2026 · Budget work session
Council adopts his 1.75¢ baseline
Mahaffey moved to direct staff to build the budget on a 1.75¢ increase while protecting the Community Investment Fund. It passed unanimously, and the adopted FY26-27 rate is 37.35¢.
Approved minutes, May 21, 2026Minutes (PDF, p. 542) ↗ The vote (next page of the minutes)p. 543 ↗
Your bill
Who gets what, and what else is rising
Enter your numbers. Rates are this year's: Wake County 53.71¢, Town of Apex 37.35¢.
The bigger costs: a year-over-year comparison
Freddie Mac 30-year fixed average, weekly. Hover or tap the line.
What to do
Check your notice, and appeal if it's wrong
New values arrive by late January 2027. If yours doesn't match the market, you can appeal through the planned April 30, 2027 deadline. Then watch the spring budget: the revenue-neutral rate will be published, and Council decides how close to it the new rate lands.
Details: wake.gov/revaluation.
Info current as of October 4, 2026. Calculator results are illustrations, not tax bills.
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